Martinsville is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either ha ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) located within Bridgewater Township, in Somerset County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, United States.GCT-PH1 - Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County -- County Subdivision and Place from the 2010 Census Summary File 1 for Somerset County, New Jersey
,

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

. Accessed February 11, 2013.New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32)

, August 2012. Accessed February 11, 2013. As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

, the CDP's population was 11,980.DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data for Martinsville CDP, New Jersey

. Accessed February 10, 2013. Martinsville is located in northeastern Bridgewater near Warren Township; the 08836 ZIP code also takes in the southern extension of Bernards Township. It is an affluent, predominantly residential area, though it does have its own commercial center along Washington Valley Road, and its own post office.

History

The Middlebrook encampment was a seasonal encampment of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

near Martinsville that straddled the ridge of the First

Watchung Mountains The Watchung Mountains (once called the Blue Hills) are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States. The name is derived from the American Native Len ...

. Its position provided a natural fortress not only protecting the Continental Army, but also overlooking the plains towards

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English an ...

where the British forces were stationed in 1777. Tradition holds that it was at the Middlebrook encampment that the first official

flag of the United States The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...

was unfurled, after a law to adopt a national flag had been passed by Congress on June 14, 1777. By special order of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, a Thirteen Star Flag is flown 24 hours a day at the Washington Camp Ground, part of the former Middlebrook encampment, in Bridgewater. Since 1889, the first hoisting of the flag is commemorated annually each July 4 with a changing of the flag, a reading of the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ...

, and the delivery of an historical address.

Geography

According to the

, Martinsville had a total area of 12.398 square miles (32.111 km²), including 12.322 square miles (31.914 km²) of land and 0.076 square miles (0.198 km²) of water (0.62%).

Demographics

Census 2010

Points of interest

* Washington Valley Park, part of the Somerset County Park System, is located in Martinsville. The park offers extensive hiking and mountain biking opportunities. A notable hike in the park is an hour-long hike around the out-of-use reservoir that once served

Bound Brook, New Jersey Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, located along the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 10,402,Devil's Tree is a solitary oak located in a field on Mountain Road. Legend has it that it is the property of the Devil and a gateway to Hell. *There is a Revolutionary War cemetery in the Spring Run section of Martinsville, where soldiers of both American and British troops are buried, along with some early settlers of the area.

Education

The

Pingry School The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent school, independent, University-preparatory school, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School (K–5) campus in the Short Hills, New Jersey, Short Hills neighbo ...

's upper division for grades 6 to 12 is located in Martinsville. Little Friends of Jesus Nursery School (preschool, non-parochial) operate under the supervision of

Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen The Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen ( la, Dioecesis Metuchenis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in New Jersey, centered in the borough of Metuchen. It was established on November 19, 1981, from the territory of the Diocese of Trenton. The dioc ...

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Martinsville include: * Catherine Caro (born 1995),

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

player. *

Andrea Kane Andrea Kane is an American author of romance novels and suspense novels. She has resided in the Martinsville section of Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, United States, with her husband Brad and daughter Wendi.Considine, Bob"In writing romanc ...

, author of

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

s. * Geraldine Laybourne (born 1947), founded

Oxygen Media Oxygen (branded on air as Oxygen True Crime) is an American television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, through its Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary. The channel primari ...

and has served as its chairman and chief executive officer since its inception. *

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in seve ...

(1878-1968), author of ''

The Jungle ''The Jungle'' is a 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. However, most readers wer ...

'' lived in Martinsville during the later years of his life.Freeman, Muriel
"Upton Sinclair: Recalling a Muckraker"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', December 17, 1978. Accessed May 4, 2015. "Martinsville Upton Sinclair, muckraker extraordinaire and the author of more than 100 books, died in Bridgewater Township on Nov. 25, 1968, at the age of 90. "

References

{{Authority control Bridgewater Township, New Jersey Census-designated places in Somerset County, New Jersey